A heartbroken mother whose son went missing while undertaking the Pacific Crest Trail doesn’t believe he is still alive.

Carmel O’Sullivan, from Midleton, Cork, was talking to Ryan Tubridy on Tuesday about her son David, who disappeared while doing the long-distance American hiking trail which is closely aligned with the Sierra Nevada and Cascade mountain ranges, last year.

The 25-year-old was inspired to do it having read the book ‘Wild’, which also became a film starring Reese Witherspoon.

When asked if she believes her son is still alive, she said: “No, I’m afraid I don’t.

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“He’s a year gone and there’s no activity in his bank account and he certainly wouldn’t have disappeared, he’s a very loyal child. He wouldn’t do this to us.

“Our David had read the book previous to the movie and it left an image, a good impression on him, and he told us last September 12 months that he had been thinking about it for a while, that he was going to do it.

“It’s 2,500 miles and takes you from the Mexican border all the way up to Canada and takes approximately six months to complete. You carry everything with you.

“You try to navigate between mountains and lakes and forests and the Mojave Dessert. It’s very, very popular.

“Initially I said no to him doing it.”

She continued: “He thought he would never be able to take six months off work to do this again.”

She said David’s last known whereabouts was in Idyllwild where he arrived to on April 5.

There’s been no activity on David’s bank account, and he hasn’t been in touch.

She said: “The last time we heard from David was the 7th of April 2017. A year last Saturday.

“It is assumed that he didn’t get very far from there, because he wasn’t seen.